


Four ways Jack Died (And Never Came Back) And One Way He Did

by megolas



Category: Torchwood
Genre: five things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-24
Updated: 2012-04-24
Packaged: 2017-11-04 06:02:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/390584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megolas/pseuds/megolas





	Four ways Jack Died (And Never Came Back) And One Way He Did

1.

Jack dies in an air raid in 1941. There'd been music and dancing, Jack pressing his date up against the wall and whispering in her ear before the siren sounded. The shelter under the dance floor of the hotel isn't truly deep enough and it's a lucky hit from a German bomber; tons of rubble, brick and glass falling through onto the screaming crowds below. Jack's date passes out in his arms and he curls over her instinctively as the pieces land.

2.

The con goes wrong, spectacularly 'guards with plasma guns' wrong. He's running for the exit, lungs hammering against his chest when the first bolt hits. His legs go numb, swiftly continuing up his spine and it's only seconds before the ground rushes up to meet him. He feels his jaw crack as he lands and the metal grid is the only thing he can see. The next bolt is fatal, fired at point blank range - these guards are primed to shoot first and ask questions later and the human body wasn't designed to cope with the voltage contained in their guns.

3.

It's a time-eclipse; a moment in time when two universes pass through each other, cancelling each other out for a minute or more. They're rare but dangerous. Anything that doesn't belong in either universe rips apart. Jack was travelling through universe A when it all went wrong, the instruments in his timeship sparking furiously before fizzling out. He has enough time to fall into the control seat before everything lights up and the two universes slip past, leaving nothing but a faint blip in the timeline where Jack and his ship used to be.

4.

He dies just steps from the Tardis, shoving the unconscious Rose through the door and into the Doctor's arms with the last of his strength and yelling 'Go!'. The Doctor grabs her and the last thing he sees is the door slamming shut behind them, the sound of the Tardis merging with the rushing in his ears as the darkness closes around him. It's not how he expected to go - that was reserved for mid-orgasm in the middle of an orgy on that planet he'd found on a con - but as ways to go goes, at least he could say he went out having saved the girl.

5.

The first breath is always the hardest. He feels his chest jerk and the cool touch of Owen's fingers across his throat, checking for his pulse. Opens his eyes and is immediately greeted by Gwen's worried face, Tosh leaning over from behind Gwen's shoulder. "Oh, thank Christ, Jack." He reaches down to his stomach, fingers coming away sticky with the blood on his shirt but the cut below is just about gone. Goddamn Weevils. He'd not seen that one in the dark of the warehouse until the last possible moment, its claws slicing through shirt and skin. He'd bled out in the corner while the team fought their way through the remaining Weevils. Nothing but black till it all kicked back in again, lungs gasping for that first breath as the darkness fades away.


End file.
